The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936.[1] The draft took place from April 20–21, 2002, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.[2][3][4] The draft was broadcast on ESPN both days and eventually moved to ESPN2. The draft began with the Houston Texans selecting David Carr, and it ended with the Texans selecting Mr. Irrelevant, Ahmad Miller. There were thirty-two compensatory selections distributed among eighteen teams, with the Buffalo Bills receiving the most selections with four.[5]The University of Miami was the college most represented in the draft, having five of its players selected in the first round. Although the Carolina Panthers finished with a 1–15 record which would normally have given them the first pick in each round, the Houston Texans were given the first pick because they were an expansion team. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season.
In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.
Round one
^#6: Dallas → Kansas City (D). Dallas traded this choice to Kansas City for Kansas City's first- (#8), third- (#75) and 2003 sixth-round (#186) draft choices.[source 1]
^#14: Tennessee → New York Giants (D). Tennessee traded this selection to the New York Giants for New Yorks's first- (#15) and fourth-round (#110) draft choices.[source 2]
^No. 20: Seattle → Green Bay (D).Seattle traded its first- and fifth- round selections (20th and 156th) to Green Bay in exchange for Green Bay's first- and second-round selections (28th and 60th)
^#21: multiple trades: #21: Tampa Bay → Oakland (PD).Tampa Bay traded its first- and second-round selections (21st and 53rd) and first-round selection (31st) in 2003 and second-round selection (45th) in 2004 to Oakland as compensation for signing Raiders' head coach Jon Gruden. #21: Oakland → Washington (D). see #18: Washington → Oakland[source 2] #21: Washington → New England (D)Washington traded this first-round selection to New England in exchange for New England's first-, third- and seventh-round selections (32nd, 96th and 234th).
^No. 25: Miami → New Orleans (PD).Miami traded its first- and fourth- round selections (25th and 125th) and first-round selection (18th) in 2003 to New Orleans in exchange for RB Ricky Williams and New Orleans' fourth-round selection (114th).
^No. 48: Atlanta → San Diego (PD).Atlanta traded its second-round selection (48th) and first- and third-round selections (5th and 67th) in 2001 to San Diego in exchange for San Diego's first-round selection (1st) in 2001
^No. 52: Washington → Baltimore (D).Washington traded its second- and third-round selections (52nd and 96th) to Baltimore in exchange for Baltimore's second-, third- and fifth round selections (56th, 87th and 159th)
^No. 59: Miami → Philadelphia (D).Miami traded its second-round selection (59th) to Philadelphia in exchange for Philadelphia's third- and sixth round selections (88th and 187th)
^No. 61: San Francisco → Buffalo (D).San Francisco traded its second-round selection (61st) to Buffalo in exchange for Buffalo's third- and fourth round selections (69th and 102nd)
^No. 63: Chicago → Dallas (D).Chicago traded its second- and fourth-round selections (63rd and 129th) to Dallas in exchange for Dallas' third-, fourth- and fifth-round selections (72nd, 104th and 140th)
Round three
^No. 67: Carolina → Cincinnati (D).Carolina traded its third-round selection (67th) to Cincinnati in exchange for Cincinnati's third- and fifth-round selections (73rd and 145th)
^No. 73: Carolina → Cincinnati (D).Carolina traded its third-round selection (73rd) to Cincinnati in exchange for Cincinnati's third- and fifth-round selections (73r and 145th)
^No. 76: Jacksonville → Cleveland (D).Jacksonville traded its third-round selection (76th) to Cleveland in exchange for Cleveland's third-round selection (79th) and LB Wali Rainer
^No. 79: multiple trades: No. 79: Cleveland → Jacksonville (D).see No. 76: Jacksonville → Cleveland. No. 79: Jacksonville → Washington (D).Jacksonville traded this third-round selection (79th) to Washington in exchange for Washington's third- and fourth-round selections (89th and 118th).
^No. 84: multiple trades: No. 84: Washington → Kansas City (PD). Kansas City received Washington's third-round selection (84th) and third-round selection (77th) in 2001 as compensation for Washington hiring former Chiefs' head coach Marty Schottenheimer. No. 84: Kansas City → St. Louis (D).St. Louis received this third-round selection and Kansas City's second-round selection (42nd) in 2001 as compensation for Kansas City hiring former Rams' head coach Dick Vermeil.
^No. 96: multiple trades: No. 96: New England → Washington (D). see No. 32: New England → Washington. No. 96: Washington → Baltimore (D) see No. 52: Washington → Baltimore. No. 96: Baltimore → Denver (D)Baltimore traded this third-round selection to Denver in exchange for Denver's fourth- and fifth-round selections (112th and 155th).
Round four
^No. 101: Detroit → Denver (PD).Detroit traded its fourth-round selection (101st) to Cleveland in exchange QB Ty Detmer.
^No. 112: multiple trades: No. 112: Atlanta → Denver (PD).Atlanta traded its fourth-round selection (112th) to Denver in exchange for Denver's three seventh-round selections (215th, 219th and 226th) in 2001. No. 112: Denver → Baltimore (D) see No. 96: Baltimore → Denver.
^No. 116: Houston → Atlanta (D).Houston traded its fourth-round selection (116th) to Atlanta in exchange for Atlanta's third-round selection (88th) in 2003.
^No. 117: Denver → New England (D).Denver traded its fourth-round selection (117th) to New England in exchange for New England's third- and fourth-round selections (131st and 144th).
^No. 122: Oakland → Cleveland (D).Oakland traded its fourth-round selection (122nd) to Cleveland in exchange for Cleveland's fourth- and fifth-round selections (147th and 189th).
^No. 144: multiple trades: No. 144: Jacksonville → New England (PD).Jacksonville traded its fifth-round selection (144th) to New England in exchange for New England's sixth-round selection (170th) in 2001. No. 144: New England → Denver (D) see No. 117: Denver → New England.
^No. 154: Washington → NY Jets (PD).Washington traded its fifth-round selection (154th) to N.Y. Jets in exchange for G David Loverne and the Jets' fifth-round selection (160th).
^No. 168: New England → Dallas (D).New England traded its fifth-round selection (168th) to Dallas in exchange for Dallas' seventh-round selection (237th) and fifth-round selection (168th) in 2003.
Round six
^No. 183: multiple trades: No. 183: Kansas City → St. Louis (PD).Kansas City traded its sixth-round selection (183rd) to St. Louis in exchange for RB James Lewis. No. 183: St. Louis → Indianapolis (PD)St. Louis traded this sixth-round selection (183rd) to Indianapolis in exchange for WR Terrence Wilkins.
^No. 199: Miami → Chicago (PD).Miami traded its sixth-round selection (199th) and sixth-round selection (191st) in 2003 to Chicago in exchange for QB Cade McNown and Chicago's seventh-round selection (241st).
^No. 204: St. Louis → Indianapolis (PD).St. Louis traded its sixth-round selection (204th) to Indianapolis in exchange for P John Baker.
^No. 205: New England → St. Louis (PD).New England traded its sixth-round selection (205th) to St. Louis in exchange for WR Dane Looker.
Round seven
^No. 212: Houston → Pittsburgh (PD).Pittsburgh received Houston's seventh-round selection (212th) as compensation for Houston signing Steelers' restrictive free agent K Kris Brown
^No. 217: Dallas → Atlanta (PD).Dallas traded its seventh-round selection (217th) to Atlanta in exchange for TE OJ Santiago.
^No. 228: Atlanta → Denver (PD).Atlanta traded its seventh-round selection (228th) to Denver in exchange for LB Henri Crockett.
^No. 234: multiple trades: No. 234: N.Y. Jets → New England (PD).New England traded its first-round selection (16th) in 2000 and fourth- and seventh-round selections (101st and 206th) in 2001 but received back from the Jets their fifth-round selection (149th) in 2001 and this seventh-round selection (234th). No. 234: New England → Washington (PD) see No. 32: New England → Washington.
^No. 237: multiple trades: No. 237: Miami → Dallas (PD).Miami traded its seventh-round selection (237th) to Dallas in exchange for WR Jeff Ogden. No. 237: Dallas → New England (PD) see No. 140: New England → Dallas.